The Guardian reveal their true colours today with a story claiming that Boris Johnson is to raise the minimum wage for ten of thousands of Londoners to £7.40 an hour. (1)
Unfortunately for team Boris this isn’t in the slightest bit true.
Scrolling down the piece it becomes clear that Boris is to announce that he intends to keep the London Living Wage which is not a legal requirement, unlike the Minimum Wage. The London Living Wage was launched in 2005 by Livingstone after three years of lobbying and campaigning by Trade Unions.
This meant that all GLA employees as well as any sub-contracters would be paid at a rate above the Minimum Wage to reflect the higher cost of living in the Capital. Currently the figure stands at £7.20 an hour.
According the the Guardian:
“Johnson will also disclose that he will open talks with the hotel and hospitality industry - one of the lowest payers in the capital - about implementing the wage for all London hotel workers before the 2012 Olympics.”
Which sounds familiar to us. In 2006 Labour MP Tessa Jowell said:
“… you will see … the principles of employee representation, fair and ethical employment standards, a London living wage and so forth, written into the criteria that will apply in tendering for the Games.”
So Boris is simply carrying on a policy adopted by Ken after pressure from the Unions, presumably because City Hall would be brought to a standstill if he didn’t.
A timeline of the campaign for a London Living Wage can be found here (2)
The Guardian also reports that the chinless one will raise the Living Wage to £7.40 an hour. Again, in real terms, this actually represents a pay cut. With inflation officially running at 3.3% (and the rest) this 2.7% rise means that London’s poorest workers will actually be worse off.
Which is sure to please the new chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority Brian Coleman, appointed by Boris (3), who said last year: (4)
“Paying London Fire Station cleaners the London Living wage of £7.20 is just ridiculous.”
Meanwhile beleagured Boris will be keen to read that the sub-Standard are running a story claiming former deputy mayor Ray Lewis is facing a new accusation of sexual misconduct. (5)
(1)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/10/london.boris
(2) http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/livingwage/chronology.html
(3) http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/boris-meet-the-team/
(4) http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jun/22/thetoriesshouldcleanuptheiract
(5) http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-23514672-details/Mayor's+aide:+new+sex+claim/article.do
Scrolling down the piece it becomes clear that Boris is to announce that he intends to keep the London Living Wage which is not a legal requirement, unlike the Minimum Wage. The London Living Wage was launched in 2005 by Livingstone after three years of lobbying and campaigning by Trade Unions.
This meant that all GLA employees as well as any sub-contracters would be paid at a rate above the Minimum Wage to reflect the higher cost of living in the Capital. Currently the figure stands at £7.20 an hour.
According the the Guardian:
“Johnson will also disclose that he will open talks with the hotel and hospitality industry - one of the lowest payers in the capital - about implementing the wage for all London hotel workers before the 2012 Olympics.”
Which sounds familiar to us. In 2006 Labour MP Tessa Jowell said:
“… you will see … the principles of employee representation, fair and ethical employment standards, a London living wage and so forth, written into the criteria that will apply in tendering for the Games.”
So Boris is simply carrying on a policy adopted by Ken after pressure from the Unions, presumably because City Hall would be brought to a standstill if he didn’t.
A timeline of the campaign for a London Living Wage can be found here (2)
The Guardian also reports that the chinless one will raise the Living Wage to £7.40 an hour. Again, in real terms, this actually represents a pay cut. With inflation officially running at 3.3% (and the rest) this 2.7% rise means that London’s poorest workers will actually be worse off.
Which is sure to please the new chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority Brian Coleman, appointed by Boris (3), who said last year: (4)
“Paying London Fire Station cleaners the London Living wage of £7.20 is just ridiculous.”
Meanwhile beleagured Boris will be keen to read that the sub-Standard are running a story claiming former deputy mayor Ray Lewis is facing a new accusation of sexual misconduct. (5)
(1)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/10/london.boris (2)
http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/livingwage/chronology.html (3)
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/boris-meet-the-team/ (4)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/jun/22/thetoriesshouldcleanuptheiract (5)
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-23514672-details/Mayor's+aide:+new+sex+claim/article.do 
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